Europeanp
Economic and Social Committee

The role of civil society in the EU-Japan Relations

Sandy Boyle
President of the External Relations Section
EESC
EU Institute
I tit t ini Kansai,
Ki 26 NNovemberb 20111

The EESC• Consultative body: makes EU policies better by uniting diverging interests andissuing opinions• 344 members from the 27 Member States• 3 groups: Employers
Workers
Other interests (consumers, farmers, liberal professions, etc.)• Members coming from civil society organisations• Scope:- Employment and social affairs- Transport, energy, infrastructure and information society- Single
Si l market,
k t consumers- Economic and social cohesion- Agriculture and the environment- External relations

EESC: Consultative body of the EU institutions

EuropeanParliament

EESC’s OPINIONS(on request or own
initiatives)

Council (MemberStates)

EuropeanCommission

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The role of civil society• Democracy cannot exist without the participation of civilsociety
i t• 2-level dialogue• public authorities – civil society organisations• among civil society organisations themselves• The involvement of civil society organisations in shaping
policyy is beneficial because of:• their on-the-ground knowledge• their contribution to building consensus• their contribution to better adapting policies to reality

EESC activities: economic crisis• ImportanceIt
off growthth• Effective coordination of European economic policies• Financial market regulation in order to curb speculation• Credit rating agencies: need to set up a European body forassessing sovereign debt
• Ensure public investment in education and training• Austerity measures should not increase the risk of poverty and aneffective social impact assessment must be made and debated

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EESC activities: ageing society• Fight unemployment is one the most effective strategies toensure pensioni systemst• Economic opportunities: older people become increasingly
important consumers• Health and care sector: strengthening of preventive healthcare• A mere rise in legal retirement is not a solution as millions ofelderly people could be pushed below the poverty line,
particularly women• If the retirement age is to be raised → necessity to develop
work that accommodates older people

EESC activities: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)• Recognition of companies' social function in an inclusivesociety• Integral part of business strategy, including employees andstakeholders• Consumers must have accurate information to makechoices• Promote certification instruments• CSR improve the competitiveness of Europe as a whole (e.g.
recruitment among disadvantaged groups and reduction ofpollution levels)

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EU-Japan civil society cooperationa) To learn about each other experience in tackling common challenges (e.g.
energy supply and ageing society)b) To promote cooperation between EU and Japanese civil societyorganisationsc) To feed in European and Japanese policy-makers with joint positions by EU+ Japanese civil society organisations on issues of common interest
Objectives of the current EESC mission:• to broaden the scope of the Japanese civil society organisations the EESC
has contact with (employers(employers, trade unions,unions farmers,farmers consumers,consumers NGOs andother economic and social organisations)• to assess a possible EU - Japan civil society cooperation in view of the futurenegotiations for a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement / Economic
Partnership AgreementThank you for your attention
For further information please contact
rex@eesc europa eu
rex@eesc.europa.eu

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